On the lift going down to the Train platform, two male construction workers were talking about how people are so cocooned into their phones and social media.
When I got into the train, two female university students were talking about Instagram and Pinterest.
Across my seat and next to me were four passengers who were all checking their mobile phones.
And so were most of the other passengers on my carriage.
I didn’t want to judge them. But I hoped that they were sending messages to their families, commenting positively on the tweet of someone who was feeling depressed or responding to the posts of friends and ex-classmates on Facebook.
I tend to think that even though they are facing their mobile phones and not engaging with the person next to them, they are actually reaching out to someone.
Of course, the other possibility is that they are watching a movie or TV show to entertain themselves, or listening to beautiful music to calm themselves after a hectic day, or watching the news to be informed of current events, or just watching social media posts to get acquainted with how people spent their day.
Well, almost everyone on the train were engaged on their phones. They were in touch with their feelings and thoughts.
It appeared like they were having this FOMO, fear of missing out. They seem to want to know what everyone else knows or does.The modern equivalent of keeping up with the Joneses.
I wonder, if the population continue this practice of getting informed, entertained or inspired by what’s on offer in their mobile phones when not doing their usual work, would this keep them from getting dementia in their later years?
This phenomenon of having digital media on our mobile phones is our present and our future. It is not necessarily bad or wrong. We just need to find a happy place where people who are into their mobile phones get intellectually and spiritually enriched each day. I sincerely hope that people fully engrossed with this phenomenon of our era can still live their dream lives.
Ros
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